Writing for 50 years now
'I've been writing for 50 years now and used to be very disciplined about it, writing every day. I'm not so much any more, and when I do, it's wherever I happen to be. I also used to write longhand, on legal pads - my ex-husband was a lawyer - whereas now it's a laptop.
Writing now is more a question of time, and a novel means finding a year to sit down and actually do it. I've worked hard all my life, so it's nice to be able to relax a little.'
Alice Walker, author of The Colour Purple, on being 69, in The Times